Dust guard



Nov. 4, 1941.

J. .1. MCBRIDE DUST GUARD Filed March 22, 1939 BY M m ATTORNEY PatentedNov. 4, 1941 DUST GUARD John J. McBride, Bayonne, N. J., assignor toAmerican Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewJersey Application March 22, 1939, Serial No. 263,339

3 Claims.

This invention relates to, an improvement in dust guards in general andin particular to such a guard for use in connection with railway journalboxes and axles.

In the past the major portion of the journal boxes have had the innerend sealed by means of a piece of wood slipped into the slot of thejournal boxes and formed with an opening to receive the car axle. It isnecessary in railway service for a certain amount of play to existbetween the axle and the journal box and the necessity of providing suchplay makes it exceedingly hard to design a dust guard which willfunction efficiently throughout the life of the journal box and axle.Since the journal box is in most cases a rough casting, the wooden dustguard can not move readily with respect thereto with the result that theopening through which the axle passes soon becomes oblong, permittingthe entrance of water, dust and other foreign material into the journalbox. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide adust guard which may closely fit the axle throughout its life and whichmay move with the axle without occasioning wear between the guard andjournal box.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a two-part dustguard having a relatively fixed first portion forming a seal with therough surfaces of the cast journal box and a second portion movable withthe axle over the smooth surfaces of the first portion.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a two-partdust guard, the first part of which may remain relatively immovable withrespect to the journal box, while the second part may move with the axleto accommodate small movements thereof without occasioning undue wearbetween the parts.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to personsskilled in the art from a study of the following description andaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view ofa journal box and axle with the improved dust guard in position;

through the use of customary brasses and wedges C. In this manner theaxle A is rotatable within the journal box which it supports and sincethe brasses and wedges permit of a certain amount of movement betweenthe axle and journal box, which movement is necessary to relieveexcessive strains on the journal box, then the dust guard must becapable of accommodating such movement. In order to accommodate thenecessary relative movement between the axle and journal box, the dustguard D is formed in two parts with a main or relatively fixed sealmember 2 and an auxiliary or relatively movable seal member 4. Therelatively fixed seal member ispreferably formed as a pressing with themain body 6 thereof located in a single plane from which flanges 8 aredirected laterally thereof and of sufiicient depth to occupy the majorportion of the journal box dust guard slot S. The main body of therelatively fixed sealing member is provided with an enlarged opening orelongated slot H] of suflioient size as to be spaced from the car axleat all times, while the flanges 8 are provided with a plurality ofspaced angle shaped clips 12 adapted to be spot welded or otherwisesecured to the flanges of the sealing member in such a manner that oneleg 14 of the clip is spaced outwardly of but in parallel relation tothe main body of the fixed sealing member. A comparatively soft sealinggasket I6 is secured to the inner face of the main body portion of Fig.2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view and showing one side of thejournal box;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the main or relatively fixed sealingmember;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the auxiliary or movable seal member;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing a modified form ofconstruction of the main sealing member, and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view similar to Fig. 5 but showing afurther modification.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will be seen that theconventional axle A suppOrts the more or less conventional journal box Bthe fixed sealing member and is adapted to surround the opening lll cuttherein and is of such a thickness that it, together with the flanges 8,will make thetotal width of the main or relatively fixed sealing memberslightly greater than the width of the journal box slot S. With therelatively fixed sealing member formed in this manner, it may be forcedinto the journal box slot compressing the slightly resilient sealinggasket l 6. The compression of the sealing gasket in the slot will,together with the rough cast surfaces thereof, prevent any movementbetween the main sealing member and the journal box, and will alsoprevent the entrance of water, sand or. other foreign matter intojournal box B. The resilient sealing gasket I6 may be secured to therelatively fixed sealing member in any suitable manner, but in thepresent instance it is secured by means of rivets I8.

The auxiliary or movable seal member is formed from a single sheet ormetal 20 cut to a contour as shown in Fig. 4 and of an extent slightlygreater than the opening cut in the main sealing member. This plate hascut therein a circular opening 22.0f such a size as to surround the axlein spaced relation thereto. one surface of the auxiliary or movablesealing member plate has secured thereto adjacent the periphery aresilient gasket 24. This gasket may be secured in place by any suitablemeans, such as rivets 26. The edges of the circular opening 22 havesecured thereto a slightly resilient gasket 28 which is secured to theplate 20 by any suitable means, such as rivets 30. The combinedthickness of the plate 20 and gasket 24 is such that a slightcompression of the gasket 24 is obtained when the auxiliary or movablesealing member is pushed into position between the angle clips l2 andthe main body of the main or relatively fixed sealing member. Theslightly resiliently gasket 28 is, of course, of the proper diameter asto closely engage the dust guard collar portion 32 of the axle andprevent entrance of dirt or escape of oil along the axle.

In some cases it may be easier to form the main or relatively fixed sealmember of plate metal with the necessary flanges formed by securingstrips of metal 40 thereto by any suitable means such as welding as at42 (Fig. 5). In other cases it may be desirable to oifset the main bodyportion of the fixed sealing member as at 44 (Fig. 6) in order toaccommodate the leg 46 of an angle-shaped member 48 which is secured tothe main body portion by any suitable means, such as spot welding. Ineach of the forms, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the main or relativelyfixed sealing member is intended to fit the slot in the journal box inexactly the same manner as that previously described in connection withFigures 1 to 4, namely, the gasket I6 is intended to be compressedsufliciently to normally hold the entire sealing member fixed relativeto the journal box, and to prevent entrance of water, sand or otherforeign matter into journal box B.

The dust guard is assembledv by pushing the auxiliary or movable sealingmember into position between the body 6 and legs [4 of the angle clips,after which the entire dustguard assembly is pushed into the dust guardslots S, permitting the journal box to be slid over the axle for supportupon the brasses which are inserted in the usual manner. During use ofthe dust guard any relative movements between the axle and journal boxwill be accommodated by the sliding of the movable sealing member gasket24 along the smooth surface of the body portion of the relatively fixedsealing member. The relatively fixed or main slot sealing member is, ofcourse, held in position by the compression of the gasket 16 thereof. Itwill be obvious that slight movements of the axle relative to thejournal box will be accommodated by the slight flexing of the gasket 28and gasket 24 without requiring movement of the latter gasket on themain body portion of the relatively fixed or slot sealing member. Bypermitting relative movement of the auxiliary or axle sealing memberthere can be no enlargement of the opening surrounding the axle and thegasket 28 will remain in relatively close contact to the axle throughoutthe life of the assembly.

While the improved dust guard has been de-- scribed more or less indetail and with specific reference to certain drawings, it is obviousthat various modifications and rearrangements of parts may be made bypersons skilled in the art after a study of the preceding description,but all such modifications and rearrangements of parts are contemplatedas will come within the scope of the following claims:

What is claimed is:

1. A dust guard unit for railway journal boxes adapted to be supportedon an axle and being formed with a dust guard slot adjacent the inneredge thereof, said dust guard unit comprising, a main member engageablewithin said dust guard slot and formed with flanges extending laterallyfrom one side thereof, a first gasket compressible between said mainmember and one side of the dust guard slot, said gasket and flangescooperating to hold said main member substantially stationary relativeto the journal box, an auxiliary member having an axle clearanceopening, an axle engaging gasket secured to said auxiliary memberadjacent the axle clearance opening and adapted to closely engage saidaxle, an additional gasket secured to one of said members andcompressible between said member and the other of said members, meanscarried by one of said members and positively limiting the compressionof said additional gasket to a.

predetermined amount and of lesser degree than the compression of saidfirst gasket whereby said auxiliary member may be easily slidablerelative to said main member to accommodate relative axle and journalbox movements without causing movement of said first gasket relative tothe journal box or to the main member.

2. A dust guard unit for railway journal boxes adapted to be supportedon an axle and being formed with a dust guard slot adjacent the inneredge thereof, said dust guard unit comprising, a main memberengageablewithin said dust guard slot and formed with flanges extending laterallyfrom one side thereof, a first gasket compressible between said mainmember and one side of the dust guard slot, said gasket and flangescooperating to hold said main member substantially stationary relativeto the journal box, an auxiliary member having an axle clearanceopening, an axle engaging gasket secured to said auxiliary memberadjacent the axle clearance opening and adapted to closely engage saidaxle, angular shaped clips rigidly secured to said flanges of the mainmember and defining a space for reception of said auxiliary member, anadditional gasket secured to one of said members and compressiblebetween said members to a predetermined amount by said angular shapedclips, said additional gasket being compressed to a lesser degree thansaid first gasket whereby any relative motion between said dust guardand journal box will be absorbed by relative movement between said mainand auxiliary members.

3. A dust guard unit for journal boxes comprising a main member formedwith a main part having an elongated slot and spaced marginal flanges,said flanges projecting laterally from said member and forming at theirmarginal edge portions wall engaging faces, angular elements eachincluding a first leg fixed to the inner face of each of said marginalflanges, said legs termihatin flush with the marginal edge of saidflanges to provide additional wall engaging portions, additional legs onsaid angular members extending laterally from said first legs and spacedinwardly of said marginal edge to form with the main part confining wallportions, an axle sealing member adjustably arranged between saidconfining wall portions, said axle sealing member including an axleengaging gasket and a marginal gasket, said marginal gasket beingcompressedbetween said confining wall portions to retain the same andseal said parts, and a gasket extending along the upper edge of saidmain member to gngage and seal the adjacent wall of said journal JOHN J.McBRIDE.

